For BeeSTAR founder Ray Kwon, studying an MBA is not separate from building his business. The two are happening at the same time.
BeeSTAR uses IoT sensors and predictive analytics to help beekeepers and growers make better decisions about pollination. Around 2,000 hives are already monitored across Australia, with early deployments in the US, New Zealand and Canada.
Ray knew that taking the business further would require more than technical capability.
“I started a company that is going global,” he says. “Our customers will be corporate farms, and our funding will come from venture capital, and I needed to be ready for both, not just the technology.”
An MBA designed for an AI and data-driven world
Ray considered several MBA programs before choosing the University of Sydney’s MBA (Technology and Digital Strategy).
“The MBA (Technology and Digital Strategy) trains you to lead in an AI and data driven industry, which is exactly where BeeSTAR lives. Learning to ride a horse in the year the car arrives did not make sense to me.”
That relevance makes the workload worthwhile. Ray builds study into his working week, protecting fixed study days and taking only as many units as he can realistically absorb. He has studied from field trials, investor meetings and, most recently, Tanzania, where he was a keynote speaker at the Pollination Africa Summit.
He is also candid about the reality.
“Balancing a startup and study is never easy, and anyone who says otherwise is not being honest.”
The MBA (Technology and Digital Strategy) trains you to lead in an AI and data driven industry, which is exactly where BeeSTAR lives.
Ray Kwon, MBA (Technology and Digital Strategy) student
Applying MBA learning directly to BeeSTAR
A case study on the Murray-Darling Basin prompted Ray to map BeeSTAR’s wider stakeholder ecosystem, including regulators, researchers and corporate buyers. It revealed hurdles the business had not previously seen.
“No accelerator program has pushed my thinking that deep.”
That broader perspective has contributed to a shift from simply selling sensors towards solving the underlying problems facing growers and beekeepers. BeeSTAR is now developing a shared pollination management platform for growers, farm managers and beekeepers.
Ray also draws on classmates from industries outside his own.
“Classmates have looked at BeeSTAR from completely outside my box and pointed to opportunities, and problems, that I could not see from inside the industry.”
Turning study into immediate business value
For Ray, the return on the MBA is highly practical.
“I do not feel like I am attending lectures. I feel like I am receiving consulting that applies to my business the same day.”
With US sales planned for 2027, Ray’s next challenge is building the systems and capabilities BeeSTAR needs to scale while stepping further away from day-to-day operations.
As he puts it, the MBA is teaching him “to see the forest and the trees at the same time.”
Zak Iqbal, Chief Operating Officer, BeeSTAR, The Hon. David Crisafulli MP, Premier of Queensland, Australia, Ray Kwon, Founder and CEO, BeeSTAR at the signing ceremony for the Queensland–California Memorandum of Cooperation on Agricultural Innovation, Biotechnology and Productivity, California, September 2026.
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